


College Dayz

by teetlebros



Category: Rise of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (Cartoon 2018)
Genre: Alternate Universe - College/University, Alternate Universe - Human, uhhhh i'll add more of these bad boys eventually
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-02-02
Updated: 2019-04-01
Packaged: 2019-10-21 03:48:51
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 5,414
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17635448
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/teetlebros/pseuds/teetlebros
Summary: Leo plans to make the most of his freshman year of college. He's got his genius of a twin a few floors above him, another brother who's a football star (and an insane hook-up for parties), and one cool RA.An Anthology.





	1. Packing Up and Shipping Out

**Author's Note:**

> suh bros
> 
> this chapter is kind of a set up so it's gonna be really choppy i apologize sincerely

“Dude, is it even _legal_ to add a wholeass minor before you start class?”

Leo grinned at his brother, who was sitting across from him at the table. Donnie, in return, only offered a glare.

“Unfortunately… no.” Donnie spun his own laptop around and Leo leaned over to get a look at the screen. “It says I need a GPA! And I won’t get that until the end of the semester.”

“Pressing f for you, bro,” Leo said. “I still have room for an elective. I should probably, y’know, get calculus out of the way, bu-"

“We start classes in a week, and you haven’t even finalized your schedule?!”

“My boys!” The two brothers suddenly turned around. Their father had just entered the room, beaming from ear to ear. He stood at the head of the table and wrapped one arm around each of them, yanking them close. “My sons! I can’t believe you leave in a week! And then Michelangelo leaves in a year! And then I am officially an empty nester!”

“And yet, you don’t seem to mind,” Leo pointed out, trademark smirk stretched across his face.

Their father only laughed. “Me and your mother are counting down the days,” he replied with a wink.

Their father’s lighter-toned arms contrasted deeply with both Leo’s and Donnie’s skin tones, for he wasn’t their biological father. Hamato Yoshi had adopted all four of his sons when the eldest was 2 and the youngest was still in infancy. He was a movie star back then, and technically, he still was one now, even though his roles were fewer and farther in between.

“That’s kinda disgusting dad,” Donnie said with a roll of his eyes.

“What’s gross?” a new voice inquired, and now all three of them turned around to see their smiling mother. “My sons, I can’t believe you-"

“I already gave them that talk, Shen,” their father replied as his wife slipped her arms around him in a hug.

“Oh, then I guess I don’t have to. We are counting down the days until all of you are gone, blah blah blah,” their mother joked, laughter lacing her voice. “Let’s go into the other room, Yoshi. Leave the boys to complete their schedules,” she said, staring pointedly at Leonardo. “Which should have been done by now, but I guess that’s none of your mother’s business.”

“Sorry, mom,” Leo said, chuckling sheepishly as he looked back at his laptop. Shen only smiled at him and took Yoshi by the hand and guided him away from their working sons. “So… math can wait, we’ve agreed.”

“I mean, we certainly didn't agree, but seriously, just take history, Leo,” Donnie said with a sigh. “That’s the class you wanna take, that’s the class you want me to tell you to take, so sign up already! Hell, just plan to minor in the damn thing the second you can, like I’m doing!”

“How in the world am I gonna find a career that overlaps sports, health, and history?” Leo all but exclaimed, exaggeratedly counting the subjects on his fingers.

“You’re a master bullshitter. If something out there doesn’t already exist, I’m sure you can make it up.”

“Aw, Don!”

“Hey, no, that wasn’t supposed to be a compliment!”

-

Leo and Donnie were twins in all but actual blood. At least, Leo had determined it. They showed up at the orphanage on the same day (which doubled as their given birthday), so he was convinced. Despite that, he never imagined that his genius of a twin would end up at the same school as him.

Their eldest brother Raphael set the standard a year back, when he entered his freshman year. It was a good school, a really good school (and a bit expensive, but their parents assured them not to worry about _that_ ), but Donnie could do better. Donnie could do Harvard or Yale if he wanted to. Instead, he blew everyone’s minds when he chose to apply to Raph’s school. He said it was because he wanted to be the smartest one there, rather than another fish in the pond at some Ivy League.

So, naturally, Leo decided to apply the day after.

They both applied for the Honors Program, and no one was worried about Donnie getting in because it was _Donnie_. Leo was another story, and they all held their breath for him, and when he actually got in he got to pick where they would all go out to dinner (Donnie got to pick the next day, because the same feat = the same reward, no matter what, in their house). So they were twins, and they would be at the same school as their older bro, and they would be living in the same residence hall, and things were looking good.

-

On move-in day, Shen went across campus with Raphael to move him into his new dorm, accompanied by their youngest bro, Michelangelo, still a senior in high school. Yoshi took the twins to their own hall and helped them.

Donnie had lucked out with a single on the fifth floor. He wasn’t all that ready to live so near to other people, especially when he had gotten used to a more spacious life in their family’s massive penthouse. They moved him in first before going to the first floor, where Leo had decided to go random with a double. His roommate hadn’t arrived yet, but judging by the last names that had been on the door, his would be Oroku.

“Wonder what determined that arrangement,” Leo mused, sarcastic as ever before stepping aside and showing the little pieces of paper taped on the door to his family. “Wait until they get a load of this.” He gestured to himself.

A “load of this,” as Leo put it, was an Afro-Mexican boy who most certainly didn’t look like he would have the last name Hamato.

“Aw, Leo.” Donnie put a hand on his brother’s shoulder and smirked. “It won’t matter what you look like. Your roommate will despise you regardless.”

“Good stuff, Don. Love to hear that.”

“Boys! Stop fighting and let’s begin unpacking. Leonardo, why must you have so much stuff? I have spoiled you!”

Leo chuckled at his father as they started unpacking. Soon enough, they were joined by the rest of their family, finally finished with moving Raph in. Mikey was already crying and clinging to his eldest brother.

“This isn’t fair,” he choked out. “I wanna be in college!”

“Dude, senior year is the best of your life,” Raph said, his words accompanied by a pat on the head. “And the offer from last year still stands. You can come visit whenever!”

Mikey only continued to cry in response. By the time Leo was all unpacked, he was nearly sobbing.

“Aw, dude. It’s okay,” Leo consoled through light laughter. How on earth did Mikey end up so emotional? “Seriously, come visit.”

“Yeah!” Raph emphasized again, before wrapping his youngest brothers into a hug. He looked over at Donnie, who huffed but joined in, keeping near the outside.

After that, Mikey went to go wait in the hallway to calm down. The three boys were left with their parents. Shen pulled Raph over to the side, speaking softly to him, while Yoshi pulled his middle sons into a hug. He didn’t have to say anything. They got the message.

Then the parents switched. Shen placed a hand on either of her twins’ shoulders. “Take care if each other, okay?” she said softly. Leo and Donnie looked to each other, then back to their mother, before nodding. She squished them in a hug of her own.

Their parents eventually pulled away and left Leo’s room, smiling. They were happy for their sons, and there were no tears on their behalves. Mikey cried enough for all of them.

“I’LL MISS YOU GUYS!” their youngest brother screamed down the hall before being dragged away.

Raph was a bit emotional too, but he got over it quickly enough. He wiped his eyes before flashing a grin and placing his hands on his hips. “So! What do you guys wanna see first?”

“My bed,” Donnie mumbled, but it was spoken over by Leo’s eager cry of:

“Take us to the football house! How sick are the parties, bro? We’ll get in, right?”

“Of course you’ll get in! You’re my brothers!” Raph laughed and pulled Leo into a tight, one-armed hug. “And I’m a first-string linebacker! Donnie, up for a walk? It’s, like, half an hour from here.”

“… I _guess_.” He barely got to finish the word as Raph used his other arm to pull him into a hug as well.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> follow me on tungle or else i'll tell your mom you read fanfic


	2. Acclimation *clap clap clap* 64 *clap clap clap*

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Leo meets his roommate and his RA and... oh no... [Enter Love Interest]

“Well… at least it can’t get any worse,” Donnie said, cocking his head as he eyed the decrepit football house.

The place was painted white, but for all intents and purposes, it may as well have been brown, since it was so damn dirty. Its screen door was barely hanging onto its hinges, and a few shutters were scattered across the porch, completely separated from their dusty windows.

“Oh, trust me, it can get worse,” Raph assured. “Last year, someone stole our door.”

Leo looked up at him with wide eyes. “Someone stole your  _door_?”

“Mmhmm. The whole thing.” Raph seemed oddly proud of the fact, crossing his arms over his chest and grinning smugly.

“It doesn’t look all that big, Raph,” Donnie noted. He adjusted his glasses, pushing them farther up on his nose. “… No, yeah, it really doesn’t look all that big. Where do you guys, y'know, party?”

“Well it isn’t on the first floor, bro,” Raph said as he hooked an arm around Donnie’s neck. He held his other hand out, as if suddenly jutting his palm out in the direction of the house would make it slightly less gross to look at. “All the magic happens in the basement, down below. The first floor has a kitchen about the size of a punch buggy and a bathroom with a toilet that has no seat.”

“Siiiiiick.” Leo grinned and started rocking on his heels, effectively bouncing in place. “That’s so sick! I imagine you’re in the basement, where all the magic happens?” He raised is eyebrows suggestively at Raph, who scoffed and waved his free hand.

“No way, man. I’m in the kitchen most of the night. It’s where we keep the jungle juice, and I like stayin’ up there to make sure no frat fuckboy puts drugs or shit in it.”

“A noble sacrifice,” Leo said, lightly closing his eyes as he placed one hand on Raph’s shoulder and the other on his own chest. “Pressing f for you, bro.”

“F,” Donnie echoed, rolling his eyes. “Now dude, can you get offa me? You’re gonna break my neck, and as much as I appreciate you putting me out of my misery, I-“

“Oh, sorry bro.” Raph pulled his arm off of Donnie with a chuckle. “So, yeah, this is pretty much all to see.”

“Wait, we aren’t going in?!”

“Oh Leo.” Raph now hooked his arm around Leo’s neck, tutting. “Leo, Leo, Leo. This house isn’t meant to be seen in the light of day. You-"

"I really don't think it's meant to be seen at all," Donnie mused, rubbing his chin. Raph gave him a pointed look.

"You gotta wait until night. Trust me, it’s a million times better at night," he finished.

“That’s so fucking cool,” Leo whispered.

Raph grinned and ruffled his brother’s dreads. “I know, right? Now c’mon, do you guys wanna get something to eat? The dining halls just opened up!”

-

The three of them sat at a table, watching all kinds of people walk through the double doors of the dining hall. Some were obviously nervous freshmen, walking alone, and others were returning for another year, surrounded by friends and catching up.

Leo paid no attention to the new arrivals, however. Instead, he opted for staring blankly at the empty chair right across from him.

“Leo,” Donnie warned. “Leo. Stop.”

“I miss Miguel,” Leo grumbled anyways, and he stretched his arm across the table, splaying his hand on its edge right before the empty seat.

“Well, he misses us more,” Donnie replied.

“Donnie!” Raph hissed.

“What? Hey, that wasn’t even supposed to be mean! You should have seen him when you left, Raph. He was more of a mess than he was today.”

“Just imagine him, home all alone, no one else,” Leo said as he slowly pulled his hand back towards him all the way across the table, emitting one very prolonged and annoying  _squeeeeeak._

“Except our parents. Jeez, Mom and Dad are gonna let him get away with _anything_ ,” Donnie said, arms crossed over his chest.

“Thing is, D, you can get away with anything just by being here,” Raph said as he gave his brother a shake on the shoulder. “It’s the-"

“Hey, Raph!” They all turned their heads, eyes landing on a group of waving guys and girls. “Raph, buddy! Hey!”

“Hey!” Raph called back, waving eagerly. “One sec, guys!” He turned back to his brothers and smiled. “Those are some of my friends-“

“You don’t have to rub in that you have more than-“ Donnie quickly tallied them up. “-seven.”

Raph scoffed before scooting his chair back. “I’m gonna go catch up with them. Quick warning, your RAs are gonna want to get your whole floor together for the barbecue on the quad. Expect a lot of annoying ice breakers. Just go through the motions and you’ll both be fine. Text me if you guys need anything, okay?”

“Yes, mother,” Leo said with a smile. He punched his brother lightly on the shoulder. “Go have fun, dude. Send addies!”

“Don’t call them that, Leo,” Raph warned as he punched him back. “D, try to make friends or something, okay?”

“Time will tell,” Donnie said as he took an exaggeratedly long sip of his drink, thus ending the conversation. Raph took off to go meet up with his friends, his younger brothers watching him go.

Leo looked down at his empty plate and back up to Donnie. “Wanna go back to-?”

“Yes.”

“All right then.”

-

They were fortunate- their dining hall was about a four minute walk from their dorm. As they were making their way back, a sudden ear-piercing scream caught their attention.

It apparently caught everyone else’s attention too, because now everyone in a 20-foot radius was staring at a guy with no shirt on.

“PARTY TONIGHT! 66 WEST MCKINLEY STREET!"

He proceeded to tear across the street, shouting the address to new passersby as he progressed deeper into campus.

“Hey, D, you up for-?”

“Absolutely not.”

-

Leo and Donnie parted ways at the lobby, with Donnie scanning into the elevator and Leo making his way down the hall. Being on the first floor was kinda weird, since they only had one section and every else had four, but at least he wouldn’t have to lug his laundry that far. As he made his way through the double doors that led to his section, a man was leaving.

Leo gave him that awkward smile, the one reserved for when it was too late to pretend you didn’t just make contact with a stranger. In return, the man glared at him and just kept walking.

Cool. Cool cool cool.

Leo turned around and watched his back as he left the building. Something inside him pulled at his chest all funny. He got a bad vibe from that guy.

He tried to pay it no mind, and he shoved his hands into his pockets as he walked down the hall.

His room was right in the middle, set back just a bit more than the others, and he was right across from the bathrooms. It was a pretty sweet get up, except for the fact that it was relatively close to their RA’s room. He really hoped that they were chill.

He pulled his key out of his pocket, only to stop when he saw that the door was propped open. Oh my god, his roommate must have moved in. Judging from the fact that the man who passed him in the hallway appeared East Asian, coupled with the last name Oroku, and adding in the fact that he would literally kill himself if there happened to be one more person who  _wasn't_ white on this floor- gee, Donnie much?

But... yup. The numbers all added up. That guy was definitely his roommate’s father.

Leo actually crossed his fingers, hoping that his roommate fell real far from the tree, when he knocked on the door.

Oh, hey, the room actually looked pretty nice. Leo’s side was a bit more bright, using navy as a main color and coupled with vibrant posters, most courtesy of Mikey, while his roommate mostly used black and white.

Oroku First Name TBD was sitting in bed, skimming over a textbook when Leo had knocked. He looked up, surprised, before jumping down onto the floor. Leo smiled easily and walked in the rest of the way.

“You don’t look like a Hamato,” was the first thing First Name TBD said. It wasn’t malicious, just incredibly blunt. Leo rolled with it.

“I have this crazy Japanese phenotype. It’s called adoption. Super rare.”

First Name TBD smirked and took the hand that Leo held out. “So, Leonardo-“

“How did you know my name?”

FNTBD stared at him, light brown eyes wide and brows raised. “The housing portal? Where you can see your roommate?”

“Oh shit, we have one of those?” Leo pulled his hand back and shrugged. “You’d assume my brother woulda- oh, never mind. Just Leo is fine. What’s your name?”

“I actually wanna talk to you about that.” FNTBD suddenly got serious, losing the smirk. “Can you shut the door?”

Leo obliged, kicking out the flip flop that was holding it open (good thinking, FNTBD). He prayed he wasn’t about to be killed.

-

“So, I swear to God or whatever the hell you believe in that I won’t be a freak or anything. And if you’re not comfortable, we can talk to the RA or something, but-“

“Dude.” Leo held up a hand and gave his roomie that easy smile once more. “Let me put this as delicately as possible. I really, truly, could not give a damn.”

First Name Now Technically Determined sighed in relief and flopped back onto the bed, dragging  _her_ hands down her face. “You’re a good guy, Leo.”

FNNTD basically just spilled their life story out to Leo, and it was so painfully obvious that she wanted to do anything but- she seemed like the exact kind of opposite person to do that. “I swear, that’ll never happen again unless I get incredibly crossed to the point I might die. I’m usually not so much of a talker.”

Long story short, his roomie actually wasn’t a boy but a girl, but the thing was she couldn’t come out to her dad (who  _was_ the guy Leo saw in the hallway: confirmed asshole) so she couldn’t apply for special housing or anything of the sort, and she couldn’t get a single so now she was stuck with a guy for a roommate.

“So, I just have one question.” FNNTD’s eyes widened, horrified. “Oh, no, bro. Well, technically two questions, I guess, but nothing wonky or anything, promise. Are you gonna, like, use college to… reinvent yourself? I guess? I don’t know if that’s proper wording or anything. But, like, are you gonna tell other people on the floor? Use different pronouns and make it known?”

“I’m not all that sure, yet,” FNNTD said, rubbing her arm. “The only reason I trusted you was because I kinda might have stalked your Instagram and saw that picture of you and some guy at a parade.”

“Oh!” Leo laughed and rubbed the back of his neck. “That’s Mikey. Yeah, we’re… we’re pretty lucky. Our parents were super accepting of him. He just had top surgery not too long ago.”

FNNTD sat up and swung her feet over the edge of her bed, smiling sadly. “That’s nice.”

Leo copied her expression before clapping his hands. “Okay! Second question. If you want, I can keep calling you like… dude and bro and shit until you make up your mind about telling other people when in public or whatever.” FNNTD nodded in approval- good idea. “But behind closed doors, what should I call you? I’ve been referring you in my head as a series of acronyms the entire damn time.”

FNNTD smirked. She stared up at the ceiling for a few seconds before making eye contact with him. “I kinda wanna try out Karai.”

“Tight. Sup, Karai.” Leo held out his fist. Karai tapped it.

“Now, I’ll probably never open up to you again. Seriously.”

“Fine with me. I’ll do enough opening up for the both of us.”

-

Karai went back to her textbook and Leo was busy texting Mikey when someone started pounding on their door. Leo screeched and dropped his phone and Karai got a fucking paper cut. Unforgivable.

“FLOOR MEETING IN FIVE MINUTES! WE’RE GETTING DINNER TOGETHER! YOU GUYS BETTER BE THERE!”

Leo beamed, Karai rolled her eyes, and they both got out of bed.

-

A bunch of awkward strangers sat on the various furniture in the lounge, trying their best to make themselves as small as possible to avoid contact with other awkward strangers. Leo had fortunately snagged a chair for him and Karai. She was sitting down in it, and he was positioned on the arm.

He was busy observing others come in before his eyes widened. He eagerly tapped Karai, who was busy on her phone.

“Dude dude due dude-"

“What?” Karai snapped, before following his gaze and blinking. “Huh. Didn’t really see that coming.” Across the lounge sat a boy of what appeared to be East Asian descent. “Do you think they just lumped together every freshman in the honors building on the first floor?”

“Nah, they got my bro upstairs.” Leo pointed at the ceiling. “Granted, he’s Indian, but same last name.”

“Well played,” Karai muttered, nodding approvingly to no one in particular. Leo had to agree. Well played indeed.

The talking started to cease as the door was pushed open. A short black girl with her hair tied up in buns walked into the room.

“Sup, kids,” she greeted with a nod of the head and a light smile. “My name’s April O’Neil, I’m a junior, and I’ll be your RA. My only rule is that if you don’t make trouble for me, I won’t make trouble for you, but then again, I’m legally obligated to read this entire packet.” She held up a thick stack of paper. “So let’s make this quick, eh?”

“I like her already,” Leo whispered. Karai hummed in agreement.

-

After she finished the packet and “a quick ice breaker, sorry everyone, I literally have to do them or else they won’t give me free room and board,” they were led out the dorm like little ducklings to the BBQ that Raph told them about. Then they had to do even more icebreakers.  _Then_ they all got dragged to a candlelight induction vigil thing. Karai almost fell asleep, it was so boring. Leo actually did fall asleep at one point. Then, again, like ducklings, they were guided back to their residence hall.

Leo kept trying to get a bit closer to the Japanese kid. Whether it was only his ethnicity or also his nationality, he had no idea, because he could barely hear him during the ice breakers (seriously, the one single word he made out was “Japanese”). Alas, he failed to get more intel, but good news: it turns out that they were _neighbors_. He lived next to him, on the side that Leo had yet to walk through. That was fun. Real fun.

He watched him retreat into his room before doing the same.

“Hey, Karai,” Leo said. “There’s a party at 66 West McKinley Street. Do you wanna go?” he asked as he shut the door. Karai just stared at him.

“We start class _tomorrow_.”

“Yeah, true. But-”

“No, Leonardo, I don’t want to go.”

“Fair enough.” And Leo decided that maybe he would wait until sylly week actually had the chance to start before he went looking for parties. Instead, he followed Karai’s lead and got ready for bed. While she was in the bathroom, he took time to catch up with his family. He sent a few texts into the group chat he had with his brothers before FaceTiming his parents. It was a short and sweet conversation.

By the time Karai got back, he was under his covers and staring up at the little glowy stars Mikey had put above his bed.

Here was to his first night in college.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> yeah karai is trans bite me mikey is too so bite me again
> 
> i'm making a press f joke every chapter and no one can stop me
> 
> follow me on tungle @teetlebros or i'll turn your bones off


	3. Death By 8 AM

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> first day of classes!

HIST103: World History I. It was the class that Leo had eventually settled on for his elective. It knocked out one of his Group B breadth requirements, so that was good.

What sucked absolute ass was that he was so focused on getting into it (there was only 1 seat left!) that he didn’t pay the slightest bit of attention to the _time_ of HIST103.

It was an 8 AM. Every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday. He played himself.

Getting up early wasn’t the biggest deal in the world, but that didn’t mean he actually, y’know, _wanted to._

But he pulled through. Luckily, Karai’s first MWF class was at 8:25, so he didn’t feel so bad about getting ready so early because she was up even before him.

“What’s your first class?” Leo asked her, glancing over his shoulder just slightly as he finished pulling on his shirt.

“BUAD,” she replied as she finished brushing her hair. When she didn’t get a response, she looked over at Leo, who stared at her, absolutely lost. “Basics of Business.”

“Still can’t believe I’m rooming with a business major,” Leo teased as he pulled his hair up.

“Operations Management,” Karai corrected, feigning a glare in his direction. “It’s different.”

“Your very first college class ever is literally Basics of Business.”

“Hm… fair.” She set her brush down and ran her fingers through her hair a few more times for good measure. “How about you?”

“World History,” he replied, unable to hide his grin. He reached into his caddy and pulled out his toothbrush and toothpaste. “Wish me luck.”

Karai rolled his eyes at him as he opened their door. The girls’ bathroom was right across the hall from them, with the boys’ bathroom right next to it. He walked diagonally to his destination and pulled open the door, only to gasp in slight surprise as he nearly ran into someone exiting.

“Whoa!” Leo laughed and took a step back, as did the other kid, who basically retreated back into the bathroom. They stared at each other, both just slightly terrified, before smiling. “Sorry about that.”

“Me too,” the other kid (his neighbor, from yesterday!) said, voice laced with laughter. “That’s going to take some getting used to.”

Leo nodded in agreement, less focused on what this guy was saying and more on his voice. Despite speaking flawless English, his voice was accented.

“For sure,” he finally said out loud. “Hey, you’re in 111, right? I’m in 112, right next door. I don’t think I ever got your name…?”

“Usagi,” he responded. “Usagi Miyamoto. How about you?”

“I’m Leo.”

“Nice to officially meet you,” Usagi said. He stepped out of the doorway and out into the hall. “Where are you headed so early?”

“Got stuck with an 8 AM,” Leo drawled as he slipped into the bathroom. “Same for you?”

“Unfortunately. But I have to admit, I’m excited for World History. I haven’t taken it since tenth grade.”

Leo’s eyes widened and he clapped his hands together in excitement, nearly dropping his toothbrush. “MEM Hall 127?” He asked.

“Yes! Will I see you there?”

“Oh, you know it!” Leo couldn’t believe his luck. He would already know someone in class! “See you in-“ He glanced down at his watch. “Shit, 20 minutes?”

“I’ll let you get ready,” Usagi said, laughter lacing his voice. “I’ll see you then, Leo.”

“See you then!”

-

Karai was still in the room, leaning against her bed and scrolling through her phone, when Leo walked back in.

“Got to speak to our neighbor,” he announced cheerfully before affectionately patting the wall that his bed was against. He had no idea if Usagi’s bed or his roommate’s was on the other side, but he liked to hope. “Usagi. Nice guy, we’re in class together!”

“Good stuff. You’re phone’s been going crazy.” She gestured to the device that was resting on his bed. He picked it up and grinned when he saw the messages.

Raphie: football house, 11:30 >:)

Donald: lmao no

Raphie: don ya gotta

Raphie: leo r u in?

Raphie: leo?

Donald: lmfao he prob overslept

Miguel: GUYS WHEN YOU MAKE PLANS CAN YOU DO IT IN THE CHAT IM NOT IN

Miguel: I FEEL SO LEFT OUT

Donald: f

He rolled his eyes at his brothers’ antics before firing off a response. Of course he was going to be there!

“Karai, wanna come party tonight?”

“Sorry, _what_?”

“Dude, it’ll be so much fun. It’s at the football house! My brother is getting me in for free, and he says that girls never have to pay, like, _ever_!”

“Leo, do I look like a partier?”

“I don’t like to judge. Books and covers and all that.”

“Absolutely not.”

“I won’t stop trying.”

“Oh, I’m sure you won’t.”

-

He left soon after their conversation, timing it out so that 1) he had time to get some coffee from the Dunkin’ in the student center close by and 2) he didn’t arrive too early to class, getting there only a few minutes before it started. Usagi entered a minute after he did, and made his way up the steps when he saw Leo waving him over.

“How’s the coffee?” He asked Leo as he set his stuff down. Leo grinned and swirled the ice in his drink around before taking a long sip.

“Pretty damn good, not gonna lie. You like Dunkin’?”

“Definitely. I just always get nervous. That line looks way too long based on all three times that I’ve seen it.”

Leo chuckled and set the drink back down as he pulled out his laptop from his bag. “Dude, let me know your order, I’ll pick it up for you. I’m dead without the stuff, so I’m always ready to sacrifice being late for it.”

“Really?”

Leo looked back up into Usagi’s eyes before smiling. “For sure. You have Venmo, don’t you?” He nodded. “Good! Then we start on Wednesday.”

-

The lecture was uneventful, save for the last five minutes when the instructor told them to put away their laptops and take out their clickers. He put a question up on the board from the reading he had apparently assigned. “Apparently,” because the second he mentioned it, everyone looked wildly around the lecture hall at each other. There most certainly had been no assigned reading.

“God, who am I, Elle Woods?” Leo mumbled under his breath, before jumping with the rest of the class when the professor announced they had ten more seconds to answer the question.

FIRST NOVEL EVER WRITTEN was up on the board, with five multiple choice options. Hushed whispering from everyone around them hinted at _Don Quixote_. But that didn’t seem-

“Isn’t it _The Tale of Gengi_?” Usagi whispered, and Leo sighed in relief. That’s what he was thinking. He turned to Usagi and nodded, and they both selected E right before the poll closed.

Out of all 100 kids in the class, they were two of the six who got the answer right.

-

The rest of the day was a blur. History ended, and Leo went to chemistry. He got his lab group. His two partners seemed pretty chill. After chem came psych, and then he was done by 1! Not too shabby.

He made it back to his hall, sweating just a tad from the summer heat. He was glancing down at his phone, texting Donnie, trying to convince him to meet up for some lunch. From there, he’ll try to convince him to come to the football party tonight.

It was all about baby steps.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> follow me on tungle @teetlebros or i'll turn off your hypothalamus


End file.
